The Efficiency of Josh Allen

One of the major concerns about Josh Allen coming out of college and even after his first couple of years in the league was his accuracy and efficiency as a passer. It has been stated by many experts that the hardest thing for a quarterback to improve on is his accuracy. But, over the last few seasons it appears that Josh has done just that, he is even leading the league in completion percentage through the first two games this season. Take out a couple of questionable decisions in week one, and one could say Josh has been just about as efficient as anyone in the league. Let’s take a look at how he has done that so far this season.

Josh Allen went a very clean 31-37 connecting on three touchdowns in week two. It was very clear that the coaching staff spoke with him during the week about taking what was there. He consistently throughout the game made the safe throw and did not try to force it down field like he did many times in week one. Plays like this one show the maturity that Josh is starting to gain.

Josh smartly decides not to try and force this ball into Diggs with his rocket arm and takes the check down to Kincaid, for what was still a nice gain. Sometimes as a QB you have to take what is there, even with arm talent like Josh.

Another way it seems the Bills offensive game plan was developed to help Josh stay efficient was the use of the short passing game. Through the first two weeks of the season Josh has the fourth most attempts of less than ten yards and the third most competitions. Also, all of his touchdowns this year have been on passes that traveled under ten yards, which is a big change from last season.

The short passing game and the quick reads that have come with it ensure that Josh gets the ball out quick to one of his first reads, which are usually easy completions. One would suspect that the Bills will continue to attack defenses this way, especially with many defenses playing QBs like Josh in a cover two shell kind of defense. Meaning that they do not want to get beat deep and force the QB to dink and dunk his way down the field hoping he eventually gets frustrated and takes a shot into double or even triple coverage, like Josh did in week one against the Jets resulting in his interceptions.

Josh was just about as efficient as you can be in week two, even starting the game with 13 straight completions. If the Bills want to continue to put up points at the rate they did against the Raiders, Josh is going to have to continue to take what the defense gives him and not try and force the ball. With Josh’s play style turnovers will happen, and that is ok, but it is about managing them and taking the smart risks. Let’s hope that he can continue to do that throughout the rest of the season, and if he can it will be very dangerous for the rest of the league.